Don't toss that

When you know slang words in other dialects of English, some things are unintentionally funny.
[Source]

A bank killer of a financial move

In November 2021, I refinanced the mortgage on our Hawaii house. We locked in a 1.99% interest rate on the remaining principal (~$590k) for 30 years.

Fast forward to today, and Republic First bank has gone gone into receivership. Why? Because in 2021, "Previous leadership invest[ed] heavily in long-duration securities with low fixed interest rates." As interest rates have risen since then, those securities have declined in value.
Then, in 2022, Republic First "grew [its] jumbo mortgage portfolio at below-market interest rates." Although our refinance was through a different lender, that very well describes what we did to the bank we refinanced with. We locked got a fixed, jumbo mortgage at what is now a below market rate. Not just below market, but below the current inflation rate.

Whether or not that situation is widespread, or if it represents a serious threat to the banking industry, only time will tell. Regardless, it represents one of the few time, to paraphrase Danny Ocean, when I've had the perfect hand, and I've bet big, and taken the house.

Another [non-] sign

Garrison Wiesbaden took the COVID sign down. Just another sign (or lack thereof) that we're moving past the pandemic.

More than just the salty kind.

This is a martinsbretzel. Unlike your regular laugenbretzel, it's coated in sugar. According to "More than Beer and Schnitzel," it's found "in mostly Catholic regions like Upper Franconia and Rhineland" because it's associated with the Feast of Saint Martin of Tours.

Which squares with where I got it from -- near the train station here in Wiesbaden.

School paraphernalia

My kids sure have to take a lot of stuff to school -- backpack, lunch bag, and school-issued computer. That's a lot of stuff, and I don't envy them.

One of my go-to recipes

These days I like to make chili from ground bison rather than ground beef.
The air bison being too expensive, of course.

The upcoming solar eclipse

The April 8th total solar eclipse will pass directly over my house in Bell County, TX. Apparently, it's going to be a disaster. [Source]

"Bell County Judge David Blackburn issued a local disaster declaration this week, ahead of the April 8 natural phenomenon, saying the county's population of 400,000 residents is expected to double in tourists."

Whether fortunately or unfortunately, I won't be there. Fortunately, because I don't need to deal with the expected "traffic congestion, shortages of food and fuel, and cellular network congestion."

Unfortunately, because -- given the path of totality, the time of day, and Texas' expected clear weather -- I will probably *never* live in a better place to see a total solar eclipse.